|
Main Page
|
 |
|
News Channel |
|
Flour mills call off strike
KARACHI,April 29: The
owners of Karachi’s flour mills on Wednesday
called off the strike they had started on Monday,
after the provincial authorities accepted the
strikers’ demand for the restoration of the
licenses of seven flour mills.
The issue was resolved at a two-and-a-half-hour
meeting at the office of chief secretary Dr
Mutawakkil Kazi.
Dr Kazi summoned the meeting, which was attended
by Additional Chief Secretary (home) Anwar Haider
and Secretary of the Food Department Mir Muhammad
Parhiar, as well as representatives of the
Pakistan Flour mills Association, after city nazim
Naimatullah Khan persuaded him to do so, official
sources told Daily Times.
The nazim had intervened at the request of the
flourmill owners.
But the demand for the lifting of the ban on the
inter-district movement of wheat was not accepted
and flour mills owners were told the issue was
linked with the ban in Punjab.
The Sindh government was forced to impose the ban
after its imposition by the Punjab government, the
mill owners were told.
They were also told the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Livestock had convened a
meeting of the provincial food ministers and
secretaries on Friday (tomorrow) in Islamabad in
which the issue would be discussed and Sindh would
implement any decision of the federal government.
The vice chairman of the Karachi chapter of the
Pakistan Flour mills Association, Malik Naeem,
told Daily Times after attending the meeting the
strike had been called off because the provincial
government had accepted one of their major
demands.
He said that besides restoration of the licenses
of the seven flour mills, it agreed the food
department would call back its inspectors deputed
on flour mills and simplify formalities pertaining
to issuance and monitoring of wheat to flour
mills. Malik Naeem said that after their
successful talks with the provincial authorities
the association had issued directives to all flour
mills to start the grinding and supply of flour to
the retail markets.
He said he hoped the prices of wheat flour in the
retail market would come down to Rs 12 per kg from
Thursday (today), from Rs 15-16 per kg in the last
two days.
Later, Governor Ishartul Ibad summoned a meeting
at the Governor’s House on the issue.
According to a press release issued by the
Governor’s House, Dr Ibad directed the Food
Department to ensure the availability of wheat
flour in the retail market at fixed prices and to
keep limited stocks in warehouses.
He asked for the activation of monitoring teams to
ensure implementation of a fixed price of wheat
and for an eye to be kept on flour mills for
provision of wheat flour at specified rates.
The governor also asked the concerned authorities
to take steps to make wheat available onsumption.
Daily Times
|
|
|
|
|
Pakissan.com; Advisory Point
|
|
